Re: Trade falls through and I'm glad

["Greg Odegaard" <gmodegaa@longvred.rmc.com>]

This posting talks about this potential "trade" like it was virtually a
done deal.  If all the details are true, it appears we should forget about
Austin now or next summer.  If this is the case I believe we need to go
heavy for Stewart of Sacramento (signing him not unlike the Knight signing,
as the Kings can't offer him much).  Those based on the following article
he is well liked in Sacramento (duh!).

Sorry about the length, but it is interesting.


YOUR Sacramento King! One-time ball boy, NBA longshot is impressing many on
home team


By Ailene Voisin
Bee Staff Writer
(Published Dec. 26, 1997)

Carolyn and Michael "Big Mike" Stewart live on a sprawling block in south
Sacramento with two of their three kids, two cars and one basketball court,
a setting suggesting a life that is classic Americana.

But looks deceive. Boy, do they. Of late, chaos reigns. The doorbell rings
at odd hours. The phone shrills incessantly. Wide-eyed youngsters approach
Carolyn and Big Mike, their vision blurred from lack of sleep, and ask if
Yogi can come out and play.

Yogi.

To those who come calling for the former Cal Bear, a young Michael Stewart
was their paper boy, their baby sitter, their neighbor, their friend. Now
that he is the starting center for their NBA team, the Sacramento Kings, he
is their hero, and his extended family stretches far beyond the foothills.

The clues are everywhere. That standing ovation before his first start. The
murmur in Arco Arena when the rookie swats away another shot. The talk in
the streets. In the classroom. At the mall.

As the 1997-98 Kings stumble in the victory column, the local kid -- a
former ball boy, no less -- is making good and softening the blow.

"I told Carolyn the other day that our son doesn't just belong to us
anymore," said Big Mike, with a sigh. "All of Sacramento is claiming him."
Who can resist? The Michael "Yogi" Stewart story is a charming tale about
daring to dream and determining one's fate, yet it is so implausible as to
be almost unbelievable. Collegians who average 6.3 points and five rebounds
during their final seasons do not claw their way out of anonymity and into
NBA box scores in a matter of weeks. That happens only in Hollywood, yet
here it is, happening in Sacramento.

"I was looking at Yogi's college stats the other day," said Anthony
Johnson, another of the Kings' promising rookies, "and I saw that he played
something like 19 minutes a game. I couldn't believe it. Not when you see
what he's doing now."

A former standout at Kennedy High School, Stewart's career in Berkeley was
so unremarkable that he failed to receive an invitation to any of the
pre-draft camps in Portsmouth, Va., Phoenix or Chicago, where longshot
prospects are given a final tryout.

"Why would we have invited him?" barked Marty Blake, the NBA's scouting
director. "What did he average? Five points? How could you tell a team to
draft a kid with those numbers? And no one out west urged me to bring him
in, either. Talk to them. The bottom line is, he wasn't good enough."

Pause.

"He's doing pretty good though, huh?"

While Stewart's emergence as a bona fide NBA player has softened even the
crusty Blake -- who was unable to recall a similar success story since the
inception of the pre-draft camps -- and piqued considerable interest within
the league, the only team that gave him a look last summer was the one in
his own backyard. The team that hired him as a ball boy during the 1986-88
seasons. The team he always loved.

But even that opportunity came with conditions. Initially he was contacted
only because the Kings needed a workout partner in July for 1996 draft pick
Predrag Stojakovic, not because they coveted his skills. Yet every day
Stewart was in the gym, extending those endless arms and contesting the
Yugoslav's jumpers, bumping the muscular 6-foot-9 youngster off the block,
then joining in the ballhandling, passing and shooting drills with vice
president Geoff Petrie.

Later, there was another two or three hours in the weight room, and later
still, more shooting practice in the backyard. By the end of the summer the
Kings were convinced that they had scored twice: While further enamored of
the slick-shooting Stojakovic, they discovered their one-time ball boy and
summer sparring partner had useful skills and a terrific work ethic.

"It became obvious that Yogi had defensive abilities," said Petrie. "He has
a real knack for the ball, and he's a very quick jumper. . . . Offensively
he had almost no game when we started, and he still needs to develop a shot
that he can turn to consistently. But now he hits the short face-up jumper,
and he's got a very natural curl into the lane for a hook shot. And he just
keeps getting better." Seated in Arco Arena following a recent practice,
Stewart, 22, seems somewhat bemused by the whole ordeal. He recalls asking
Patrick Ewing for his autograph "right over there," and points to the
tunnel area. Olajuwon, Abdul-Jabbar, Bird, Magic, he attempted small talk
with all the All-Stars while working the visitors' bench.

As the years passed and he excelled at Kennedy and moved on to Cal, neither
his own consuming exploits nor the Kings' ongoing struggles dimmed his
ardor for the home team. He remained a fixture at the arena, usually
procuring tickets (and the same seat) from family friend and local Realtor
Jerrylee Vanderhurst.

"Section 107, Row G," Stewart recites, proudly.

Consistent with his nickname, Yogi, he is a gentle bear of a man with a
warm, easy manner and delightful sense of humor. The voice is soft and
soothing, the eyes open, even eager. And physically he is far from
ferocious. Though a legitimate 6-foot-10 and 230 pounds, with a toned,
powerful upper body and an unusually long torso, he wears only a size 14
sneaker (compared to teammate Corliss Williamson's size 18), and his hands
are too small to palm a basketball.

"So when I dunk," he reveals, "I have to make sure I'm up high enough above
the rim to slam (the ball) at a clear downward angle."

Already this season he has dunked on Ewing and Dikembe Mutombo, but for
many years his most famous dunk was a monstrous jam against his father
during a backyard pickup game. A former standout at Santa Clara who later
played professionally in Europe, Big Mike, a broader 6-foot-10 version of
Yogi, routinely challenged his 12-year-old son and always prevailed.

But this time the boy swooped in and dunked in his dad's face, and as
Carolyn describes it, chuckling: "Mike retired on the spot. He knew it was
time to quit."

The Stewarts are a close-knit family, in part, they believe, because of the
time spent overseas. With their 4-year-old son Louis, Big Mike and Carolyn
embarked on an eight-year basketball odyssey to France and Italy in 1974.
Young Mike was born during the first year in Cutq Trepied Stella Plage, a
village in northern France, and nicknamed "Yogi" by Louis because of his
resemblance to the cartoon character, Yogi Bear. Samantha, now a senior at
San Francisco State, was born 14 months later.

"The children were fluent in French and Italian, and they were really into
soccer," said Carolyn, a social worker and instructor at Sacramento State.
"By the time we were ready to come home, they were very European. I had to
start teaching them about America."

Topics included everything from pop culture to American cuisine to the
"Pledge of Allegiance." But once back in Sacramento, a city the Stewarts
previously had visited and enjoyed, the children quickly adapted to all
things American: Little League, paper routes and, of course, basketball
games in the triangle-shaped court in the backyard.

It was while accompanying his father to a summer pro-am game that Yogi
began his two-year career as a ball boy. Restless and bored, the
11-year-old began helping Kings equipment manager Larry Heslin carry
basketballs and gym bags out to his car. Heslin was impressed with the
youngster's good manners and his initiative.

"He said, 'How would you like to be a Kings ball boy?' " related Yogi, "and
I was like, 'Wow, of course.' I was thrilled."

As he grew to 6 feet and developed under coach Spider Thomas at Kennedy,
the Stewarts never missed a game, with Samantha arguably the most
impassioned fan of the bunch. The two siblings remain inseparable. "She's
my best friend," said Yogi, who phones her often during road trips. "We had
a great time growing up."

They offer tales of family vacations, backyard barbecues and basketball
camps but confess to little mischief. Good grades were mandatory. Rap music
was out. Daily pickup games were in until Yogi left for Cal.

"I was so sad that day," said Samantha. "I stood in the front yard sobbing
as he drove off. He saw me and turned around, then rushed back into the
house. He said he forgot something. Later I noticed that he had gone
through some pictures and had returned for one of the two of us! He is so
sweet . . . "

Not surprisingly, this touchy-feely family stuff has provided ample fodder
for the locker room. The players tease Stewart relentlessly about living at
home, and it has been suggested that he build an addition to the house or
move the entire family into more spacious quarters. Carolyn mentioned a
recent phone call from Johnson, one of her son's closer friends on the
team.

"He wanted to know if Yogi made curfew," she said, laughing.

As for the alleged house-hunting, Yogi, who is being paid the NBA minimum
of $247,000 this season, insists, "I'm looking, I'm looking." Stewart is
averaging only 4.5 points per game, but, as with many defensive standouts,
his value is measured in rebounds (6.4), blocks (2.5, fifth in the NBA),
and interior presence. And, already, he has outplayed Ewing and Mutombo,
preserved a victory (Dallas) with another timely rejection and an equally
timely counter to, say, Latrell Sprewell stories.

"I can score," he said. "I'm working on a hook shot and getting more
comfortable with the little jumper. I just always considered myself a role
player whose contribution was to play great defense. Not everyone can score
20 points a game. But you'll see. Someday I'm going to be a complete
player."

Cal coach Ben Braun, who replaced Todd Bozeman before Stewart's senior
season, detects dramatic progress from afar, particularly on offense.

"When I met Yogi, I saw a guy that had great quickness, some obvious
skills, but no self-confidence," Braun said. "And he would hang his head
whenever he made a mistake. I would tell him, 'Yogi, if you're giving an
effort, there is no reason to hang your head.' I tried to be positive and
encouraging. But I also told him: 'You have to become an offensive threat.
You have to improve your jumper, your hook. If you do that, who knows?' "

Closer to home, many within the Kings' organization delight in offering
"we-knew-him-when" tales and are quick with their own unique perspectives.

Scouting director Scotty Stirling, the first to tout Stewart's talents,
rates him the best leaping big men in the Class of '97 -- an undrafted big
man at that. Player personnel director Jerry Reynolds, the Kings' coach
when Yogi was a ball boy, remembers an earnest youngster of keen
intelligence.

Adds Kings coach Eddie Jordan: "And he's just a baby. He's so raw. But,
gosh, I love what he brings. His youthfulness, his eagerness to challenge
in the basket area, and his athleticism, which is so under control. Besides
all that, he is one of the hardest workers I know."

Stewart shoots 100 to 200 jump shots before games and practices, and after
off-day workouts, he joins assistant Mike Bratz for an individual session
at the free-throw line. Four or five times per week he also participates in
strength coach Al Biancani's conditioning and weight-training program,
again continuing to make significant strides.

Biancani says Stewart, whose leg and lower-body strength are essential to
muscling massive centers away from the low post, has since established
franchise records for bench presses and leg lifts. And Biancani, too, is
deriving personal pleasure from all this.

"I remember Yogi from high school and when he was our ball boy," he said.
"This is all pretty special."

When the excitement becomes too much, Carolyn seeks refuge at her office at
Kaiser-Permanente or in her classroom at Sac State. Several times she has
overheard students discussing the previous night's game and praising her
son, but though smiling to herself, refrains from commenting.

"The students have no idea that I'm Yogi's mom," she said. "Sometimes it's
pretty funny."

But Big Mike has no such cover. Besides the physical resemblance to his
son, he works with several Kings season-ticket holders who have made the
connection and spread the word. Worse, there is nowhere to hide.

"I have a glass-enclosed office," said Big Mike, a minority contracting
supervisor at Hewlett-Packard in Roseville. "The day after a game I can't
get any work done. People come into my office all day, and all they want to
talk about is Yogi. It started getting to me. I couldn't work. Then I'd
feel guilty, so I couldn't sleep. Finally I went in and asked my general
manager to move me into another office."

The boss laughed, then told Big Mike to relax, to enjoy himself.

But before walking away, the GM had a question: How did Yogi do last night?
----------
> From: Casey Soulies <corndog@rcip.com>
> To: celtics@igtc.COM
> Subject: Trade falls through and I'm glad
> Date: Friday, January 02, 1998 10:38 AM
> 
> 
> 
> 	Today I was reading about the possible trade in the Sacramento Bee and
> they said it was to go like this:
> 
> Boston sends Billups, Mercer, Barros and/or Brown to Sacramento.
> Sac sends Mitch Richmond to Miami, and Owens to Boston.
> Miami then sends Ike Austin and Jamal Mashburn to the Celtics.
> 
> Boston gets; Billy Owens 6'9 sf, Ike Austin 6'10 c, and Jamal Mashburn
6'7 sf.
> Sac gets; Chauncey Billups 6'3 pg, Ron Mercer 6'5 sg, Dana Barros 5'11 pg
> and/or Dee Brown pg
> Miami gets; Mitch Richmond 6'5 sg
> 
> 	The deal fell through because the Celtics were feeling that they
couldn't
> sign Austin after the season.  And the Kings, who will be $10 million
under
> the cap next season were not will to take Barros or Brown.  
> 	I am very glad that they didn't bite on this trade because Chauncey and
> Ron are to good to let go.
> 
> PS: Now you see that other teams want something in return when they trade
> and you guys can't just think of who's struggling or not good and try to
> sell them for an all-star.  Like trading Brown and Barros for Austin. 
The
> Heat might be trying to get read of him, but they do want some talent in
> return.
> 
> What do you think